Soccer Fever

I can see the headlines now: USA Takes Brazil to the Brink - Soccer Fever Grips America. Umm. No. Well not quite. In just one day I've read a lot of stories and heard a lot of sports talk radio posing the same question: Is this the event that pushes soccer into the mainstream in this country? The answer is a resounding....maybe. Just the fact that I was asked to write this blog (by a normally soccer hating Sports Guy) says something about the reaction people have had over the last week to the incredible run by Team USA in the Confederations Cup. People were excited. People tuned in. ESPN actually moved the broadcast from ESPN 2 to ESPN. But let's get one thing straight. This country gets excited for big events, not for soccer. The casual fan gets fired up every four years for the World Cup but soon returns to the familiar comfort of his football (the American kind), basketball, and baseball. And the excitement from this game will fade just the same. Soccer was supposed to explode in this country any number of times over the past 30 years only to fade back into obscurity. More kids start playing soccer every year but most of them quit before they ever get to high school. No, soccer is not on the brink of passing baseball (or more appropriately football) for the national pastime. But it is growing in popularity every year thanks to an ever growing Latino population and an ever improving US National team. Maybe the excitement from this game carries over to next year's World Cup and the US makes another more improbable run there. Maybe that steam lasts to when the US hosts a World Cup in 2018 or 2022. Maybe in another 30 years we'll look back and say this was the moment it all began to happen. Maybe....but probably not. Anyway, aren't there some Redskins OTAs to catch up on?